Chapter 1: That Day

I, Fukuda Rei, have someone I secretly harbor feelings for.

That person is always smiling, kind to everyone.

And so cute it's almost laughable.

Her being popular was only natural.

If there's one flaw, it's me.

The fact that someone like me was her "childhood friend".

「Ah, Yui! Want to walk home together?」

Pretending it was a coincidence, I called out to her─Kobayashi Yui─as she was changing into her outdoor shoes.

Honestly, it's presumptuous for someone like me to even speak to her.

I've never been confessed to like she has, and I'm a self-acknowledged ugly introvert.

Glasses, acne, a mushroom-like bowl cut.

Clumsy at sports and stupid too.

Yet this immature spirit of mine that still tries to approach her was pathetic.

But hey, what else could I do?

If I don't do this, we might become strangers someday.

Like what happened back then again...

That was the one thing I absolutely wanted to avoid.

「Sorry, Rei. I have something urgent to take care of today, so I need to head home early.」

Smiling like that, she jogged out of the school entrance.

Her receding figure seemed to reflect the current state of our relationship, making my chest ache.

──Thinking back, it's always been just me. The one inviting her out, talking to her.

I headed home, deliberately avoiding the usual route I always took with Yui.

That was my mistake.

It passed right by me in the blink of an eye.

I couldn't help but look twice, no, three times.

Yui was smiling. I found myself thinking it was a smile I'd never seen before.

Double-riding on a bicycle with some guy.

For just a moment, I felt like our eyes met.

──No, must have been my imagination.

From that day on, I stopped chasing you.